Pro-Communist Garbage

Something about this movie is so endearing that when I watch it, I do get hooked, but just to watch for the obvious anti-capitalist/anti-profit/pro-communist bludgeoning. I guess that speaks to the skill of film maker who alas, would make Marx and Lenin proud.

Seriously... you have two uneducated characters (one white, one black because capitalists oppress all races) stereotyped as union factory workers (complete with boots and flannel shirts) who take on the evil alien Capitalists that are running the world and making profit (gasp!). These aliens have advanced technology to travel the galaxy, but somehow can't shoot very well. You can tell who's a good guy or a bad guy by their attire: good guys all have flannel and jeans; bad buys wear ties or uniforms. It's hilarious. Seriously. I give it the 2nd star because it's laughable.

Fortunately for our commie lackies, there is guidance on how to overthrow the capitalist swine: The proletariat merely use violent force. Lenin called using a militant few to bring about the revolution his vanguard, and this movie demonstrates what the Romanov's discovered 80 years ago: simply murder a lot of innocent people (and aliens) and blow up some profit-producing machines. In some places, we'd call that terrorism. Communists call them freedom-fighters, I guess.

See, if our heroes were really smart, they'd start a business to make money off these alien "oppressors". Instead, they ended up (spoiler alert)... well, never mind...wouldn't want to give the satire's ending away. But it ain't good how they ended up.

An Intellegent Sci-Fi Thriller! A Tale About the Haves and Have Nots

This is a very fun movie. Here, Roddy Piper's acting and on-screen charisma fueled by John Carpenter's movie magic touch is a slam dunk combination! This film actually surprised me. It made me laugh and think and boy does it get exciting durning the last half.

To briefly sum up the film, sinister aliens that appear human have complete control of the world and all of its governments. Money hungry humans working as minions have sold out the planet and their own species to these invaders. A small militant resistance group knows what is happening and has developed optical lens that reveal the aliens and their propaganda messages that lay subliminal to the naked eye. Roddy Piper's character is an unlikely hero who accidently stumbles into the war.

Wow, pretty deep stuff. This has much in common with the "V" miniseries from the 80s.

You will want to show this to all of your close friends, but be warned the first half hour is a tad bit slow and the ending seems to arrive too quickly. These factors slightly dampen a film that could have been perfect.

I would love to have had this film be another ten or fifteen minutes longer if it would have provided more action and suspense.

Even though this film was made in 1988, its themes of greed, deception and nepotism is more potent today living under the newest Bush's America where the middle class is gradually becoming extinct and the wealth gap between the rich and poor has never been so vast and troubling.

In the film, you see people using cardboard boxes as umbrellas and a community of people living in a dingy hamlet that resembles something you would expect to see in a third world nation, but not in America. These people have been largely abandon by the powers that be to fend for themselves. The whole thing eerily reminds the viewer of the Bush Administration's slow and pitiful response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

John Carpenter has achieved true Art with this film.

Still Holds Up....

This is no NEW movie, with fancy CG or big name stars...but the one liners and attitude are enough to make this movie a classic for the ages. If you haven't seen it, you should. It's a guys flick through and through. So, order up some Pizza...invite a few buddies over and enjoy. The fight scene in the middle of the movie is one of the greatest fist fights you will ever see in cinema!!! Best be ready to be entertained...this movie should have been more than just a great cult hit.